Be Careful What You Wish For
by belleoftheopera
Summary: A story about what happens when a phangirl befriends the Phantom. Book based, Erik/OC. Please r & r.
1. Prologue

I couldn't believe it! I was going to be home alone for two weeks! Both my mom and sister were going out of town, which meant that I was going to have the house all to myself! I figured that since I would be alone for so long, I should do something fun, something spontaneous.

And then it hit me; why not spend a week in Paris? After all, most kids my age go on random trips all the time during school breaks. Then again, most of the time they go with friends, but still. I preferred to go alone, especially since this way I wouldn't have to be the odd one out with my mom and sister; I could do whatever I want to do.

When telling my mom about the idea, she was extremely reluctant, but when I made the aforementioned points, she finally gave in. Luckily I had saved enough Bat Mitzvah money for such an occasion. Before going home in between studying for finals I went online to buy my airfare and hotel accommodations.

The day after I got home I was awaited by a surprise: an iphone 4S! The following day after we each got our phones, all 3 of us headed off for our separate trips. When I arrived in Paris, I settled down and took a nap, contemplating about what I wanted to do during my time there.

The next day was my first official day of my week in Paris. I woke up early in order to fulfill the one thing I didn't get to do on my last trip to Paris: Disneyland! But this story isn't about that. It's about what happened the following day.

And Disneyland was freakin awesome by the way.


	2. Finding the Lair

It was a beautiful Parisian morning. I looked out the window of my hotel room to a perfect view of the Eiffel Tower. After getting dressed, gathering my stuff, and eating breakfast, I headed off to one of my favorite places in Paris, the Opera.

Last time I was there I could barely breathe because I was so in awe, and going in for a second time was no different. It was like being inside a palace or temple that worshiped music. Last time I went I attempted to check out practically every corner of the opera house available, but I was limited to time and being with my family.

Before I had gone home, I spent hours searching the Internet for maps leading down into the underground lake. Now I know what you're thinking, why bother? It's not like the Phantom's dead body would be down there, or a house for that matter since it's just a story. Well I didn't care. I knew it was just a story, but I still couldn't help but think that there was some truth to it, and I was going to get to the bottom of it.

As I wandered around, I stuck to the most shadowed and unpopular corners of the opera house. I was dressed all in black, thinking that if it worked for the Phantom, it could work for me too. Finally I found myself at the entrance of the lake. I took my boots off, rolled up my pants, and set up the flashlight app on my iphone before making my descent.

I had lost track of time as to how long I was wandering around. I was going in circles; everything looked exactly the same. I felt just like Jennifer Connelly in the movie _Labyrinth_, in the scene towards the end, only instead of stairs I was wandering in disgusting water.

It wasn't until God knows how long that I finally came across something completely unexpected. The walls ahead of me seemed to stick out, and there was a giant door attached. I approached the door shaking, anticipating whether it would be locked or what, or who, would be inside. I gave the door a shove when I stumbled through the threshold to find an even better surprise waiting for me: a house! And not just any house, the house of the Phantom himself!

I put away my phone, pulled out a towel from my purse to wipe my legs before throwing it on the ground, lowered my pants and put my boots on before exploring in awe. As I looked around I noticed that the strangest part was that everything was perfectly in place and there wasn't dust or cobwebs anywhere. It was as if someone were actually living in there.

I stepped into a black room with white trimmings. There was a music stand that was at eye level with me with Mozart's Requiem on it. Against one of the walls was a pipe organ, and on the desk against another wall was a manuscript, with the words "Don Juan Triumphant" written in fancy letters. In the center of the room was a red canopy, and beneath it was a coffin. I slowly approached it, afraid of what I would find, but I barely released a sigh of relief upon finding it empty when something else caught my breath by surprise. I gasped in horror and felt my heart jump when I heard the door slam. I barely poked my head out when I was awaited with the biggest surprise of my life. Standing there at the front door holding the wet towel in confusion and anger was none other than the Phantom himself!


	3. Meeting Erik

I had nowhere to go; if I tried to make run for it I would inevitably be caught. But who exactly was this man? There's no way he could be the _real_ Phantom, unless of course he was his ghost. Could he be an imposter? A hardcore phanboy? Someone with a similar face condition who couldn't afford plastic surgery? Whoever he was he was going for the Leroux look with a full-face black mask.

I knew I would get caught sooner or later so I decided to just make a run for it. The moment I stepped out of his room, he looked up with a sense of acute hearing similar to that of a cat and snapped his head in my direction. "Tu!" he pointed to me with a gaze I imagine could kill if it had the power to. "Qui êtes-tu? Qu'est-ce que tu fais ici? Comment avez-tu arrivé ici?"

My back was against the door. All I could do was stare at him in fear as I breathed heavily. Damn, I thought, of all the times to forget three years of French! "Pourquoi pensez-tu me regarder? C'est parce que tu as peur, n'est-ce pas? Oui, tu as peur de moi, je peux le voir. Je suis assez effrayant, n'est-ce pas? Oui, tremblez devant moi! Tout le monde tremble devant le fantôme!"

I was still speechless. I wanted so badly to speak up but my voice was left dry. Yet I managed to release a gasp at the touch of his stone-cold skeletal hand as he grabbed my wrist. His masked face was practically pressed against mine. Not only could I barely breathe out of fear, but he reeked of death. "Pourquoi pensez-tu pas me répondre? Tu ne peux pas parler, tu fille stupide?"

I knew I had to speak up sooner or later. I was afraid that if I didn't say anything he might kill me. "Je ne parle un peu français monsieur," I said quietly, shaking like a leaf in his grasp.

"Quelle langue parlez-tu alors?"

"Je parle anglais."

"You speak English, you say?" the "Phantom" said in an extremely thick accent. My eyebrows raised in shock. There's no way this could be the real Phantom, how would he know English?

"Yes…" I replied rather confused. "How do you know English?"

He let go of me and started walking away, yet still kept an eye on me so that I wouldn't escape. "After Christine Daaé left me, I've had so much free time that I thought it would benefit me to learn the languages of the opera. I've spent so long perfecting my Italian, German, and English."

"After Christine Daaé left me." That rules out the random deformed person theory. Building confidence, I slowly walked away from the door towards him folding my arms. "You say after Christine left. Do you know how long ago that was?"

"I'm afraid I don't keep track of time. But it's been so long I can imagine that it's been years."

"You don't know what year it is, do you?"

"No, I'm afraid I don't."

Oh how to break it to this man. I figured it was best to just let it out and see what happens. "It's 2011. It's been over a hundred years since Christine left."

The "Phantom" let out a laugh. "No it's not."

I pulled out my iphone and pressed the calendar app to show him. "See? December 21st, 2011."

With wide-eyed curiosity, he grabbed my phone and examined it from every angle. "What in heaven's name is this thing?"

"It's called an iphone."

"An iphone…" he repeated in awe.

"Yes…" I said nodding slowly as I took my phone back.

He slowly looked up and turned towards me. "But how can this be? How can I still be alive after all this time?"

I sat down. "I have no idea." There was an awkward pause. "So you really are the Phantom of the Opera, are you?"

"We already discussed this," he said agitated, "Yes I am."

I sat up and crossed my arms and legs. "Prove it," I said smirking at him.

"Prove it?" he asked in shock almost raising his voice, "How do you expect me to prove it?"

"I don't know. Sing for me, take off your mask, do something."

"I will not sing now, and will most certainly not take off my mask!"

I figured it was pointless pursuing this any further. "Okay then," I said standing up. "Well, it was certainly nice meeting you Monsieur Phantom, or whoever you really are, but I'm afraid I must be off."

I was about to walk out when he spoke up. "Wait mademoiselle!" I turned around. "Where do you think you're going?"

"I was going to leave. Besides what does it matter to you? You didn't even want me here in the first place."

"Oh no mademoiselle," he snickered slowly approaching me. "You are not going anywhere." He pinned me up against the door. "You know too much."

I bent down out of his arms and backed away. "What do you mean? It's not like I'm going to tell anyone about this, about you."

"One can't be too cautious. Besides, you never answered my original questions."

"In my defense, I couldn't understand your original questions."

"Fair enough. First question, who are you?"

"My name is Julia. And I assume it's safe to say that I can call you Erik."

"You assume correctly Mlle. Julia. Next question, what are you doing here?"

"I wanted to see if the Phantom… if you were real. And to be honest, I had to keep telling myself to expect disappointment. But I'm so glad I was wrong."

"Of course I'm real! But why on earth would you come down here looking for me? Everyone keeps their distance from the Phantom."

"Because outside the opera house, the story of you and your love for Christine has become famous."

"Really?" he said straightening up. Even though I couldn't see it, I could tell he was smiling under his mask. "How so?"

"There are books and movies and just about every other media you could imagine."

"What are movies?" he asked rather confused, his smile obviously faded away.

"They're like operas, only they aren't live and most of them don't sing." It was obvious that he was still rather confused. "But never mind about that. The point is that people know about you. But the downside is that most people aren't scared of you, as well as don't believe you existed. They think you were made up by a man named Gaston Leroux."

"Leroux… the name does sound familiar. I do believe Daroga has mentioned the name once or twice, but that is the extent of my knowledge."

I'm guessing Daroga is the one who told Gaston Leroux about everything, I thought. Him and Christine, since apparently she was real too. "And then there are a group of girls mostly between the ages of twelve through twenty-something called 'phangirls,' who are completely obsessed and devoted to you and practically worship you like a god."

"Now I'm afraid you have lost me there, mademoiselle," he said with a chuckle of disbelief. "All women are utterly repulsed by the sight of Erik."

"Not outside the opera house, they're not. These girls pity you and feel as though you don't deserve to be alone and want ever so desperately to be yours."

"If I may ask, are you one of these 'phangirls' of which you speak?"

"Not as much as I used to be. All I could say is that if we met when I was twelve or thirteen, then you would've been in trouble." I could tell by his lack of a response he was a little worried. "Oh but don't worry!" I reassured him. "Like I said, I'm not like that anymore! Unlike most phans, I won't hug you to death or make you love me or anything like that."

"Okay then. Thank you, I guess. But how did you get down here?"

I pulled out the map leading to the lake's entrance and showed it to him. "As soon as I got there I simply walked around in the lake until I came across the house here. So now that I have answered your questions and you know you can trust me not to say anything, can I go now?" There was yet again another awkward pause. "Erik?"

Erik hung his head and sulked away. "Go," he said sadly gesturing towards the door. I turned around to see him sit down and burry his head in his hands.

I approached him and put my hand on his shoulder. "Erik are you okay?"

He looked up at me. "You're the first person who has ever come out of your way to see me," he said, his voice choking up. "But if you really want to leave, then just go. I've spent so long in solitude that I thought that maybe for once in my life someone wouldn't run away from me."

Oh crap, I thought. He was guilt-tripping me. "Look Erik, if you really want me to, I'll stay with you."

Erik lit up. "Really?" I sighed and said yes. I could tell he was excited but at the same time tried really hard to maintain composure. "Come with me then." He led me to Christine's old room. "You shall stay in here. Mademoiselle." He took my hand and made a gesture as if he were to kiss it before letting go and closing the door.

French translation: "You! Who are you? What are you doing here? How did you get down here? Why do you stare at me? It's because you're afraid, isn't it? Yes, you're afraid of me, I can see it. I am quite frightening, aren't I? Yes, tremble before me! Everyone trembles before the Phantom! Why do you not answer me? Can't you speak you stupid girl?" "I only speak a little French." "What language do you speak then?" "I speak English."


	4. The Next Morning

_Author's Note: First of all, thank you for all the reviews, they are very much appreciated. Second, I appreciate the constructive criticism and believe me when I say that I am taking everything said into consideration for the upcoming chapters. So once again, thank you very much. _

I groggily awoke at what I assumed was morning. I pulled out my phone to check the time; it was seven in the morning. As my consciousness started kicking in, I could hear voices coming from outside the door. Could it be another intruder?

I gingerly opened the door to see Erik sitting in the main entrance with a dirty skinny Armenian boy who appeared to be in his late teens. I kept forgetting how acute Erik's hearing was because I barely took a step out when he looked up. "Ah, ici elle est," he said standing up. He took my hand and led me to the boy. "Saro, c'est Julia, la jeune femme que j'ai été tu raconter." He turned to me, "Julia, this Saro. He's a homeless gypsy who I've hired to be my errand boy. I suppose you could say he is my window to the outside world."

Saro took my hand and shook it. "Bonjour mademoiselle," he said.

"Bonjour," I responded with an awkward smile.

"I should mention that Saro only speaks French."

"Ah," I replied. My gaze transitioned from Saro to the overflowing bags on the table. "What are those?"

"Oh, mostly groceries."

"Monsieur," Saro spoke up as our focus shifted to him. "Je n'aime pas interrompre, mais je vais prendre mon congé."

"Très bien. Au revoir Saro." Saro waved goodbye and walked out. Erik turned to address me. "Well I can imagine that you must be famished. Please," he gestured toward the bags, "help yourself."

"Oh, thank you." As much as I hated to admit it, I really was hungry. I reached into one of the bags and pulled out a smaller bag of bakery fresh croissants. I reached for a small plate from the china cabinet and put a croissant on it as I slowly ripped a piece off. I looked up and noticed Erik keeping his distance. "Aren't you going to have anything?"

"Oh, no, I rarely eat. The food is mostly for you."

"Incredible," I mused. "You barely eat a thing and yet you are still alive after all this time. How is it that you haven't starved to death?"

Erik released a sigh of frustration. "I swear, if you ask me one more time how I am still alive, it will be your last." Taking his threat seriously, I never brought up the subject ever again.

After breakfast I decided to get dressed. In order to prevent myself from wearing the same thing as the day before, I decided to wear one of the dresses in the closet. As soon as I was dressed, I left my room and found Erik at his desk writing a letter. He didn't even acknowledge that I was in the room until he sealed the letter in an envelope. "What do you think?" I asked referring to the dress.

"It's very nice," he said rather unimpressed. It had then dawned upon me that to Erik this was just a regular every day outfit, nothing special to him. He gathered a bunch of envelopes and stood up. "Look, I'm afraid I'm going to have to deliver a few things at the moment, but I will be back soon."

"Isn't that what Saro is for?" I asked, a smile growing on my face. But the smile didn't last long for I could see Erik's bony body tensing up and his hands clenching as if he were strangling air.

Finally he sighed and released his tension. "I have to deliver these within the walls of the opera house," he said through clenched teeth. I followed him out of his room as he put his cape and hat on. "Don't even think about leaving," he said as he walked out the front door.

I waited a few seconds before I tried pulling the front door handle. "Yup, it's locked," I said to myself. "It's not like I could leave if I tried." Once again I was all alone in Erik's house. I made my way back into Erik's room and looked around and against a wall was a piano. I approached it and ran my fingers along the keys. I wanted so badly to play it, but I didn't know when Erik would be back and I didn't want to risk getting caught. As I sat down I realized that I wasn't necessarily afraid of Erik himself as much as his mood swings. It scared me that one minute he is kind and sane, the next he is crying like a pathetic child, and the next he could kill at the snap of a neck if he wanted to. But then I figured that if I left the door open, I would hear him come in. So I decided to just go ahead and play. Little did I know how wrong I was.

I don't know if I was just so caught up in the music or he was very quiet, but regardless I didn't hear him sneak up behind me. It wasn't until he grabbed me by the neck and threw me to the ground. "How dare you!" he shouted. I tried to sit up, but my neck hurt too much from his grasp and my body hurt too much from the fall. "No one lays a hand on this piano besides Erik!"

Once I finally had enough strength I stood up. "What is it you want with me exactly?" I asked breathing heavily. "You wanted me to stay, I stayed. If you want me to go, I'll go."

"I let you stay as a favor to you. You're lucky I didn't just kill you on the spot!"

"Really? I believe it was you who were crying as I almost walked out the door. And besides, if you were going to kill me, why didn't you, huh? What stopped you?"

"One more word out of you, and so help you I will change my mind!"

"Alright!" I pulled out his Punjab lasso from his desk drawer and put it around my neck. "Go ahead, kill me! I dare you!" I grabbed his wrist and placed the rope into his hands and put my hands on my hips as he looked down and stared at the rope. "What are you waiting for? You wanted to kill me so bad, just do it already!"

After what felt like an eternity despite it only being a few seconds, he finally looked up and approached me, taking the noose off from my neck. "Go back to your room," he said quietly. "Leave me." I took the lasso from him and threw it to the ground before stomping out and slammed the door to my room.

French translation: "Ah, here she is. Saro, this is Julia, the young woman I've been telling you about." "I hate to interrupt, but I'm going to take my leave." "Very well. Goodbye Saro."


	5. Dinner

I don't know how long I was in my room. It could've been minutes or hours, but after some time there was a knock on my door. I opened it and standing there was, of course, Erik. I folded my arms and leaned against the threshold. "Yes?"

"I'm sorry," he sighed. He sounded as authentic as when a parent makes a child apologize. I was about to close the door when he stopped it and opened it again. "Julia, listen to me."

"I'm listening."

"What happened in there was a result of basic instinct. You have to understand, my whole life everyone has been afraid of me. No one has ever treated me like another human being before."

"What about Daroga? And Saro?"

"Fair enough. But you are the only female who has ever treated me like another human being."

"What about Christine?"

"She tried, but deep down she was always afraid of me."

"So is that the real reason you're keeping me here? Because I stood up to you?"

"Well, not exactly. The thing is, if it were anyone else who had broken in here, I would've killed on the spot. But for some reason I couldn't bring myself to do that to you. But at the same time I didn't want you to walk away so quickly and leave me." My heart started pounding. "Please Julia, all I ask is for another chance."

Even though I couldn't see his face, I could sense his desperation and I could tell that he truly meant it. "I forgive you."

"Oh thank you Julia! Allow me to make it up to you. I will prepare a fancy dinner for the two of us! Just stay in here and make yourself comfortable. I will come for you when dinner is ready."

He was about to close the door when this time I stopped it. "Erik? Does this mean that I'm still not allowed to touch the piano?"

Erik released a sigh of defeat. "I suppose you could. To be honest, I quite liked what I heard and it would be a shame to never hear it again." With that I closed the door.

When I was alone again, it had then dawned upon me that this was the first time Erik had ever shown me any sign of warmth. Yes he had been kind to me before, but he was always rather cold and distant. Which made me think of something he had said earlier: that I was the only female who's ever treated him like a real person, more so than Christine and that he couldn't bring himself to kill me. Does that mean that I'm his new Christine? Is that the real reason he's keeping me and either he doesn't want to tell me or he doesn't want to admit it to himself? Perhaps I was just getting myself excited. After all, what phangirl wouldn't want to be THE Phantom's new Christine? Yeah, that was it, I was getting myself excited.

Some time passed until Erik came for me. "Dinner is ready mademoiselle," he said putting his open hand out. I looked down and I couldn't help but stare at it. His fingers were long and thin, and his hand was so bony that you could practically see the skeleton beneath his slightly yellowish-tinted skin. Regardless I took his hand and he led me to the elaborately decorated table.

In the center was a bouquet of flowers sandwiched between two candelabras while rose pedals were spread throughout the table. One side of the table was empty while the other had bread and butter, a salad, roasted chicken, another glass of wine, and a glass of water. "I didn't know what you liked, so I decided to pick something simple."

"This is perfect," I said as we sat down. I began to spread butter on my bread when I looked up to see him watching me, which made me feel a little uncomfortable. "Are you sure you're not going to eat anything?"

"Perhaps I will later tonight. But at the moment, no." I then slowly continued to spread the butter when once again I looked up, noticing something. "Oh, I get it," I said smiling as I put the bread down. "You don't want to eat in front of me because your mask covers your mouth, so to eat would require you to take it off, and you don't want me to see your face!"

"You really are the smart one, aren't you?"

"You're not used to dealing with women this smart, are you?"

"No I am not. And to tell you the truth, as frustrating as it is at times, it's quite refreshing to have someone this challenging in my company. That's one of the reasons why I like keeping you here Julia. Most of the girls I've ever known are so weak and air-headed."

"In the modern world above we have a name for girls like that: Mary Sues."

"Suits them perfectly," he chuckled. It was so odd, hearing a laugh from the Phantom that wasn't evil.

I then noticed that he always did this; he always changed the subject to avoid talking about something he doesn't want to talk about. "So, going back to what I was saying…"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yes you do. Which reminds me, there's something I want to ask you."

"Yes?"

"I was hoping, if it's not too much to ask, if I can, you know, maybe see you without your mask?"

I could tell that just the mere mention of him without his mask was infuriating him. He wanted so badly to get upset, but he did everything in his power to prevent himself from reacting the same way he had earlier today. "No," he finally said. "You will never see my face."

"But things are different now. Everyone has been exposed to much more horrifying images. Besides, after seeing countless of interpretations in art and makeup, I've always felt that they didn't do you justice. I've always wanted to know what you really look like."

"You will never know."


	6. Starting Over and Different Versions

The next morning I got dressed and ate another croissant for breakfast. After eating in awkward silence, I looked at the clock and saw that it was already almost nine o'clock. Underneath the clock was a large bookshelf with dozens of books. The majority of content were sheet music, but I did find some other books, such as novels and poetry as well as a number of dictionaries in various languages. I pulled out a collection of Edgar Allan Poe poems and short stories (why was I not surprised that this was in Erik's collection?) and decided to read for a little while.

Eventually I looked up and noticed another hour had passed. Okay, there's no way Erik is still asleep, I thought, he's obviously avoiding me. I put the book away and approached his door. The voice in my head was telling me not to knock, afraid of the possibility of facing his temper, but I foolishly ignored it and knocked anyway. "Yes?" he answered.

"Oh good, you're awake. I was afraid that maybe you were still asleep."

"Another thing you should know about me, I almost never sleep."

"Okay, good to know. Anyways, I was hoping we could maybe talk."

"Alright." He walked passed me and sat down on the sofa, patting the spot next to him. I made my way over to him and sat down. "What did you want to talk about?"

"I know things yesterday weren't exactly the smoothest, what with the piano incident and bringing up the issue of your mask and whatnot. But I want to get passed all that and maybe start over. After all, since you insist on me staying here, I would like all the tension between us to go away. What do you say?"

"I would like that."

I was generally shocked by how calm and collected he was. "Alrighty then," I said with a somewhat nervous smile. Not sure how to approach this, I thought the best way was to just plunge in and see what happens. "I think the best way to start over would be if we learned a little bit about each other. So tell me about yourself Erik."

"There's not much to tell."

"Okay, you don't have to tell me anything. Let me know if I get this right; your father never saw your face, your mother presented you with your first mask, you worked for the Shah in Persia at some point, and you were madly in love Christine despite the fact that she was in love with the Vicomte de Chagny. Does that sound about right?"

"Yes actually. How did you know all of this? From that Leroux book you were telling me about?" I nodded. "If you knew so much about me, why did you ask?"

"Because I wanted to hear it from you. Besides there have been so many origin stories about you over the years, I wanted to know what's true and what's not."

"Well I apologize in advance, but I'm afraid that that's the only information about me you will ever know."

"Fair enough."

"What about you? You haven't said a word about yourself."

"I don't really have anything to say," I chuckled. "I'm going to play your game and not say anything."

"Well unlike you with me, I unfortunately don't know anything about you to make any guesses. Besides, this was your idea."

"Yes, something I am completely regretting at the moment." I sighed. "Okay, I will tell you about myself. What do you want to know?"

I could tell Erik was somewhat bewildered at a loss of words. I couldn't help but feel like since the moment I had arrived in Erik's house, there has been a consistent game of who can top each other in terms of wit. Sometimes it would take moments and sometimes it would take hours for one of us to make a move, but in this case it was practically every other sentence. "Well, I know you can play piano…"

"Okay…"

"And I know you are from a dominantly English-speaking country based from your accent. I'm guessing America, since I know what English accents sound like and you do not speak with an English accent."

"You sir are correct."

"Tell me, what is America like? I've always been curious."

Now he had one-upped me. "Um, I'm not really sure how to respond to that. It's both different than yet similar to Paris I guess. My best response would be for you to eventually see it for yourself."

"That would never happen," he laughed. "I haven't left this opera house in years."

All of a sudden I remembered the end of the book. "I just thought of something. Now I know we agreed that I would never mention the issue of how you're still alive anymore, and I'm not when I ask this, but at the end of the book about you it says that you told Daroga that you were dying and then Christine returns the ring to your skeleton. How do you explain that?"

"Simple, I told Daroga that I was dying so that I would never have to deal with him or anyone else ever again, and I found a skeleton deep within the catacombs of the city and just placed it in one of my outfits and made sure that I wasn't around when she showed up."

"Ah, I see."

"So you say there are other, what's a good word, 'versions' of me and my love for Christine out there?"

"Dozens."

"Would you mind telling me about them?"

"Well I am only familiar with so many, but the ones I know of are the ones the majority of people are familiar with, or at least the ones among phans for the most part."

"Do tell."

"Well there is the novel which I've already told you about. Then there's the 1925 silent movie, which is probably one of the most accurate versions of your story except for the ending."

"How so?"

"Instead of you letting Christine go and dying of a broken heart, you kidnap her by taking her against her free will into a carriage and riding off while an angry mob chases you. Raoul then rescues her and the mob kills you and throws your corpse into the Seine."

"Wow, I'm not sure how to really respond to that."

"Apparently they had the original ending filmed, but test audiences hated it so it was changed to be more action-packed. Anyways, there's the 1943 version in which you start off as a violinist in the orchestra but you get acid thrown in your face because some composer stole your work and you try to strangle him."

"Why on earth would they change my face like that?" he asked in a mix of anger and confusion.

"Remember what I said about how the world thinks you're a nonexistent character? Besides just about everyone involved with this movie is dead. And if it makes you feel any better, the majority of versions have you born with your face, but still quite a bit do the whole accident thing." He released a sigh of defeat, knowing that there was nothing he could do about the situation. "Not to mention that in this version, not only does Christine have you, but she has two other suitors."

"Oh as if the Vicomte wasn't enough?" he retorted. "Who is this other suitor?"

"Well first of all, Raoul is an inspector, not a vicomte in this version. And the second is this random baritone from the opera. Basically the only reason he exists is because the actor who played him was really popular during the time."

"Enough of this! Please tell me that the rest don't destroy me so much."

"Well then, you're probably not going to like this, but there's one where the story takes place in England instead of Paris, and just like the last version, you weren't born deformed."

"Oh dear God, don't tell me I get acid thrown at me again," he moaned.

"Oh no, this is even better," I said laughing with sarcastic ecstasy. "You're a no-name musician who makes a deal with the devil to make your music immortal, thus burning your face. And instead of a regular mask, you skin your victims and sew their skin to your face!"

As I was telling him this, he was laughing in disbelief. "How can such a shameful atrocity exist? Please, go on."

"Okay, there's one where the manager of the opera house turns out to be your father even though he doesn't tell you until the end."

"If I knew my father, how could I not recognize that it was him the whole time? And why did he even bring me to here in the first place?"

"He brought you here, disappeared, became the manager, and told you that he was your uncle. Although it never actually explained why he brought you here. Oh, and unlike other versions, Christine is a street singer who gets her start as a costume girl, not a chorus member. The reason you're so in love with Christine is because she looks and sings exactly like your mother who loved you but died when you were a baby, as opposed to her falling for you because you remind her of her father."

"What? My mother? I wouldn't want anything to do with that evil woman! Anyone who resembles her would instantly be dead to me!"

"Yeah, well, I have two words for you: artistic license." He released yet another sigh of defeat. "Also, one thing you should know about this version is that unlike the others I mentioned, there are original songs in this one."

"So what you're saying is that this version is an opera?"

"Well, sort of. It's a musical."

"What's a musical?"

"It's pretty much the same thing as an opera, but it's still different. And don't ask me how so because everyone has different reasons as to how they're different."

"Alright. Would you mind giving me an example of one of the songs?"

"You mean sing for you?"

"If you must. Besides, you wanted me to sing for you the other day."

"Yeah, but you refused and ended up not doing it, remember?"

"True, but here's a way so that you can't refuse; I order you to sing something from this 'musical' of which you speak."

Oh crap, I thought. I was stuck. I really didn't want to, but he ordered me to and I was too afraid of the consequences of what would happen if I stood up to him. Besides, what phangirl wouldn't want to sing for the Phantom? "Okay, here it goes." With that I stood up and sang the first two verses of My True Love.

"I must say Julia, you have quite a lovely voice. It's by no means perfect, but you have natural talent. All you need is some solid polishing and you could possibly be opera material."

I wanted to melt like putty in his hands. THE Phantom of the Opera liked my singing! I didn't care that he didn't love it, but he liked it, which was good enough for me. "I bet Christine was better."

"Why must you always compare yourself to Christine? You are two completely different women, you have no reason to do so."

"I know, I know."

"Then why do you do it?"

"I don't know. It could possibly be my never-ending strive for perfection or overwhelming lack of self-confidence."

"But you have no reason to lack self-confidence. You're intelligent, you're talented, and you have a face that doesn't need hiding. If anyone should feel like this, it's me. Besides, Christine was in no way as perfect as you think."

"But you still loved her?"

"Of course. But you have provided me with something that she never could, a friend. Someone who talks to me and listens to me."

I couldn't help but smile at that. Boy what any phan would do to be me right now, I thought. It was as if the man sitting next to me was a completely different person than the man I met my first day here. I had officially gotten to him.


	7. The Ballet

"Julia?" Erik asked as I ate my dinner.

"Yes?"

"I was hoping that maybe you would accompany me to tonight's performance?"

I could barely contain my excitement. "Of course! If I may ask, what's tonight's opera?"

"Unfortunately there isn't an opera tonight. Do you like ballet?"

"I do."

"Wonderful. After dinner, I want to show you something."

I finished eating and followed Erik into my room. He pulled out from the closet a purple gown with sleeves that exposed the shoulders and different color roses pinned to one of the sleeves and on the waist. "I bought this dress for Christine, but alas she never wore it. I want you to wear it tonight to the ballet."

"Oh Erik, it's beautiful!" I exclaimed as I held it up to my body.

"I will wait outside," he said slowly closing my door as he exited my room. As soon as I changed, I began twirling in front of the mirror. I couldn't believe it; I was in a real fancy19th century gown! I pulled out my glasses from my purse and put them on before stepping out.

When I opened the door, Erik turned around and stood up. "Julia," he said in awe approaching me and wrapping my hands in his. "You look…" he then stopped himself and regained his usual cold composure, letting go of my hands. "You look very nice."

"Thank you," I said shyly smiling as I looked away and tucked a bit of hair away from my face.

"But why on earth are you wearing glasses?"

"I'm near-sighted. I need these to see what's going on onstage."

"Fair enough." He held out his arm waiting for me to take it. "Shall we?" I wrapped my hand around his bony arm and we left. He dropped his arm and took my hand, helping me into the boat while I held up my skirts and sat down.

"If I may ask, what exactly are we seeing tonight?" I asked as he rowed us across the lake.

"Onéguine," he said. "It's the story of Eugene Onegin. Are you familiar with it at all? Or at least the opera by Tchaikovsky?"

"I know about the opera, but I don't know the story or the music or anything."

"Well this is set to various instrumental works of Tchaikovsky. Ironically enough it doesn't use any music from his opera."

When we finally reached the other side, he helped me out of the boat and motioned for me to keep quiet. "Whatever you do, stay close to me and do not make a sound." Quietly we snuck through the shadows of the opera house until we reached box five. On the door was a plaque that read "Loge du fantôme de l'opera." When we went inside, I awed at the empty theater in front of me before we hid behind the curtain.

Soon enough the silence was filled with the hushed whispers of people entering the theater. "Look at them," Erik said slightly opening the curtain, referring to the audience. "There was a time when people actually dressed up to go to the opera. Now look. It's absolutely disgusting." I looked out to the audience. While they were dressed in what is considered nice by today's standards, guys wearing button-down shirts and women wearing fancy shirts and pants, I could see why Erik would be upset. "At least there are two people in here who still have a sense of class and dignity," he said closing the curtain and looking at me. When the lights turned down and the orchestra started tuning, he opened the curtain and we watched the ballet.

Once the ballet was over, Erik closed and hid behind the curtain just like we had during both intermissions for the audience to disperse. As soon as the theater was completely silent, we snuck out of the box and through the shadows back to the lake where the boat was still waiting for us. After a silent boat ride through the lake, we finally returned to the house.

"Julia," he said as soon as we were inside standing outside the door to my room. "I want to thank you for accompanying me tonight."

"Well thank you for a lovely evening." Smiling, I slowly reached my hand away from Erik's gentle grasp. "Good night." I slipped into my room and closed the door. I leaned my back against the door and took a big breath, placing my hand on my chest, shaking as my heartbeat increased. "No," I whispered to myself. I sat down at the foot of my bed feeling torn. I had officially begun falling for Erik. And not in the worshipping idol sense that most phangirls obsess over the Phantom, but as one human being falling for another.


	8. Saying Goodbye

Nothing too eventful happened in the following days. Just the usual, talking, music, the regular oppression of obvious feelings, ect. But after those few days, I noticed on my phone that it was December 26. Crap, I thought, my plane home leaves tomorrow! I put on the same outfit I had worn the day I first arrived to Erik's house and packed up my purse before heading out of my room.

I was hoping to just sneak out, but Erik was sitting right there in the main entrance. He stood up as soon as he saw me. "Julia, there's something I want to… Where do you think you're going?"

I sighed. "Erik, I'm leaving."

He folded his arms. "Like hell you are! You are staying here with me, I thought we've already settled this."

He began walking towards his room when I cut him off. "You seriously thought that I was going to stay here for the rest of my life?"

"I never said that I thought that. I know it for a fact."

"So it never occurred to you that I have a life outside the opera house?"

"I had assumed that you willingly gave all that up when you came down here. After all, for most people, a visit to this house is the equivalent of suicide."

"When I agreed to stay, you never said that it would be forever."

"Let me make this clear, no one ever leaves Erik's house. That is unless I give permission, which you do not have. Besides, I thought you liked it here."

"I do… I did." I walked away from him. "Erik, I have a life! I have a home, a family, friends, an education to work for, and I am not going to throw all that away just stay here with you!"

Out of nowhere, Erik plunged towards me and grabbed my wrist with one hand and my neck with the other. "Enough of this!" he roared. "You are going to spend the rest of your days with me whether you like it or not!"

I used every ounce of strength to break from his grasp. "Fine!" I shouted, my voice beginning to choke up as tears began forming in my eyes. "I will stay here with you! But just know that I will spend every day for the rest of my life hating you, and I will never forgive you!" I ran back to my room and slammed the door as I fell face down on the bed and began crying my eyes out.

I don't know how much time passed, but after some time there was a knock on my door. "It's open," I said, sitting up and wiping my eyes. Erik came in as I glared at him with hatred. "I'm not sorry," I said coldly.

"You have no reason to be," he replied. "Although I do." He approached me. "Julia, I would rather never see you again and keep your friendship than keep you here and have you hate me."

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?"

"Keep in mind what I'm about to do is something I wouldn't do for just anyone. Julia, you are free." He reached his hand out. "At least allow me to escort you across the lake so you don't have to walk through it again." I took his hand and stood up, grabbing my purse before heading out.

When we arrived at the other side, he helped me out of the boat. "You know you don't have to leave. If you still want to stay, you can."

"I want to, but…"

"If you wanted to, then why are we in this mess? Come! Let's go back to the house!"

"I said I want to, but I can't. My plane is leaving tomorrow morning."

"Julia, you will be missed."

Not thinking, I reached out and hugged Erik's skeletal body. "Goodbye Erik," I whispered. Fighting back tears I took one last look at him before heading for the surface.


	9. The Return Home

As soon as I was above the lake, I was nearly blinded by the light flooding through the windows. I had spent the last week underground, so it took me a while to get my eyes adjusted to sunlight. As soon as I was able to open my eyes again, I headed out of the opera house into the fresh Parisian air before returning below ground to the Metro. As soon as I returned to my hotel room, I quickly packed up. Luckily I didn't have that much to pack since I was only in my hotel room for two nights. I spent the remainder of the day just basically hanging out in my room, trying to keep my mind off Erik.

The next day I headed back to the airport and got on my plane back to the States. During the flight, I couldn't stop thinking of Erik. No, stop it, I kept telling myself. You're never going to see him again, he's gone. I rested my head against the window and closed my eyes. I could still see his masked face and feel his death-like hands. Tears began streaming down my cheeks just at the thought of him. It's a good thing I left when I did, otherwise I would've been in too deep to want to leave, let alone have to.

Once I finally landed, I took a taxi back to my house. Boy did it feel good to finally be home. When I opened the front door, I was greeted by the sound of barking as my dog ran down the stairs, wagging his tail and getting excited to see me. "Hi!" I heard a voice call from inside.

"Mom?" I closed the door behind me and put my stuff down before picking up my dog and running upstairs. I went into my parents' room where my mom was laying in bed watching TV. I put my dog down on the bed and he ran to her.

"How was Paris?" she asked muting the TV.

"It was good."

"Just good?"

"Pretty much, yeah. I thought you were going to be gone for two weeks?"

"What, you're not happy to see me?"

"No, it's not that. I'm just confused."

"I figured since I go back to work next week, I wanted to spend at least one week of vacation at home."

"Is Heather still in DC?"

"She came home a few days ago, but she's out with a friend right now." So much for spending the week alone, I thought. "Do you have any pictures from Paris?"

Crap, I thought. What am I going to say? I can't tell her the truth; that I spent the last week under the Paris Opera with the Phantom. "Yeah, hold on." I ran downstairs and grabbed my phone to show her all the pictures of Disneyland Paris and other random sights that I took.

"Why so few pictures?"

"Well because I visited a lot of the same places that we went to last time and we already have so many pictures of those."

"If you went back to so many of the same places, how come you wanted to go so badly?"

"Because I wanted to see everything without being a third wheel." I went back downstairs and started bringing up my stuff back to my room. I really didn't want to unpack, so I put it off until the next day.

The following week was pretty boring. I basically just hung out at home and took it easy, watching TV, playing the Wii and whatnot. That is except for New Year's Eve, that night I partied with my friends and it was awesome! But I had no idea about the surprise waiting for me a couple days after New Year's…


	10. The Surprise Visitor

I was home alone with my dog. I had just eaten breakfast and gotten dressed before taking my dog out for his morning walk. We were just about to turn around back to the house when I looked up, something in the distance catching my attention. I tried getting a better look, tugging at my dog's leash since he wanted to go back home, so I finally just picked him up and carried him with me. I turned off my ipod and headed towards the front gate of my neighborhood; luckily there were no cars coming. Finally I was close enough to hear what exactly was going on. "No," I whispered.

"I called and there was no answer," a man's voice said. It was the guard controlling the gate.

"You don't understand, I have to get in!" another man's voice cried.

I approached the little office at the gate so I could see inside. "Oh. My. God," I whispered.

"Either way I'm afraid I can't let you in here. Look at the sign over there." They looked over as the guard pointed to what looked like a no-smoking sign, only instead of a cigarette there was a mysterious-looking shadow. "I'm afraid you're going to have to take off your mask sir."

I knew that this was the moment to interject. I ran up to the office before any damage could be done. "He's with me."

"Julia!" Erik exclaimed excitedly. The guard asked for my address, which I gave before he let Erik go with me.

As soon as we were back on the sidewalk, I put my dog back on the ground and we walked home. "Erik, what the hell are you doing here?" I exclaimed in a whisper. "How did you even get here? I thought you said that you were never going to leave the opera house!"

"I wasn't. But then I realized that I couldn't live without you."

"But how did you learn my address?"

"On the day you left, Saro showed up for his weekly visit. I ordered him to find me some way of arranging a private plane ride to take me to where you live. Several days later he returned with everything set, as well as giving me your address. I don't know how nor do I really care. All I have to say is how on earth do people tolerate traveling in such an atrocious way? Yes it is faster than boats, but still? While I'm at it, how do you tolerate going so fast in those, what do you call them, automobiles?"

"So what you're saying is you endured all of that just to see me?"

"Not just to see you, but to be with you."

My heart stood still. "What do you mean 'be with me'?"

"I mean I don't want to be alone any longer. But at the same time I don't want to deal with everyone else."

"So basically you just want company."

"Yes, and I want that company to be you."

"Just company?"

"Yes, just company," he replied rather annoyed. I released a sigh of relief. "What did you think I meant?"

"Oh, nothing," I said nervously. Thank God, I thought. As we continued walking, I looked over to catch him staring at me. "What are you looking at?"

"Why on earth are you dressed like some kind of street urchin?"

I looked down at my outfit; a fading black sweatshirt and black pants with fuzzy black boots. "Thanks," I said sarcastically.

He bent down and stared at my sweatshirt. "'Disney's Beauty and the Beast; the Broadway Musical,'" he read. "Who is this Disney? What is Broadway?"

I released a sigh of frustration. Of course I was going to have to get used to this, Erik constantly asking about everything around him. "I'll tell you later."

"I'm presuming that's supposed to be the aforementioned Beast on your shirt?"

I looked down again. My sweatshirt had a white outlined silhouette of the Beast holding a red rose. "Yup. I assume you're familiar with the story?"

"I am. I suppose you can say I always shared a love/hate relationship with it."

"Care to explain?"

"Well as a child it always made me feel better about myself, the possibility of a beautiful girl falling for a hideous creature like me. I always thought that maybe if I could get someone to fall for me, that I too would become handsome. Once I learned that it was just a fairy tale and to not get my hopes up, I began to loathe the very story, knowing it would never happen to me."

We continued walking when I saw him look down. "What is it now?"

"You didn't tell me you had a dog," he said in a mixture of fear and disgust.

"Yes I do. Do you have a problem with that?"

"No, no, not at all," he answered unconvincingly. "What is his name?"

"Percy."

"Why Percy?"

"My family wanted a British name since he's a Yorkshire terrier. We named him after the Scarlet Pimpernel."

"Makes sense. He's not going to, you know, hurt me, is he?"

"Don't tell me that the all powerful Phantom of the Opera is afraid of a little seven pound dog?"

"No of course not! But, as I said before, he's not going to hurt me, is he?"

"Relax, he's harmless. He loves people."

We finally got back to my house. "You like?" I asked with a proud smile.

I unhooked Percy's leash before opening the door. He ran inside and sat down in the main hallway. "You have a very lovely home."

"Thank you." He turned towards the large mirror hanging next to the staircase. I could sense all the personal rage going through him just from looking at his reflection, especially considering our conversation during the walk home. "Okay Erik, just look away," I said grabbing his arms and leading him away from the mirror.

I turned him around towards the living room. "Oh my," he breathed with excitement. He walked towards the piano against the wall, lifting the cover and running his fingers across the keys.

"Hey that's my piano. No one else plays it but me. You better not touch it or else I will overreact and try to kill you," I said with a sarcastic monotone.

He turned around to look at me as I stood with my arms crossed, smirking. "Very funny," he replied unamused. He turned back to the piano and looked up at the portrait hanging above it. The picture was of two little girls, both of who were wearing black velvet dresses with a little teardrop-shaped pearl on their chests and white bows in their hair, each holding a dark pink rose. The older one was sitting in a chair with an elaborate white lace design on the chest and in the center was a star-shaped jewel that the pearl was dangling from with long brown hair and brown eyes while the younger was standing and had a little pearls surrounded by gold suspending her teardrop pearl with long blond curls and blue eyes, slightly paler than the older girl. "Is that you?"

"Yes, back when I was six years old, and blonder." My hair had sufficiently darkened as I got older, but it was neither blond nor brunette. Not to mention that it was much shorter now, at only slightly past shoulder length.

"And you are how old now?"

"Nineteen."

"Ah. Who is that with you?"

"That's my sister, Heather."

"How old is she?"

"Twenty-two."

He looked around at all the other pictures in the room. "I cannot get over how amazing the quality of these photos are. So colorful and vivid! Where is your family anyway? After all you were in such a hurry to go back to them."

"My sister is out doing stuff and my mom's at work."

"And your father?"

There was an awkward silence. "Do you want something to eat or drink?" I asked, heading for the kitchen.

"You know I never do so when others are around."

"Are you sure? Not even a glass of water?" I asked, filling up my glass.

"Yes, I am sure." He then turned around and wandered into the family room. I set my glass down and followed him, catching him staring at the portrait over the fireplace. My sister and I were wearing the same dresses as the other one, only we were younger. Both of us were standing this time, and instead of one white bow in my hair I had two, not to mention that my hair was about the same length as it is now, while my sister was bow-less. And unlike the other picture, this one had my parents in it. "How old are you here?"

"Three."

"You have a beautiful family."

"Thanks."

"You never did tell me about your father."

"There's nothing to tell."

"So then where is he?"

I finally couldn't hold it in anymore. "He's gone!" I snapped, my voice choking up as I tried fighting back tears.

"What do you mean 'gone?'"

"You know, gone as in never coming back! It's not like he had a choice in the matter, but still!"

"I know what gone means. But what happened?"

"He died three years ago from a brain tumor."

"Julia, I'm so sorry, I…"

"If it weren't for him, we would've never met. He's the one who first told me about you." I wiped my tears. "Come with me, I'll show you your room."


	11. Movies, Popcorn, and Video Games

Erik followed me as I led him to the study/guest room. "That's an awfully small bed."

"This coming from a man who sleeps in a coffin," I said removing the clean laundry from the bed. He stared at the cabinet at the foot of the bed. "What is it?"

"What is this little black box? I noticed in the other rooms screens similar to this only they were slimmer and flatter."

"That's a television."

"What does it do?"

"It's a device that allows you to watch movies and stuff."

"Movies… those are the things you were telling me about that they made the different versions of me with, right?"

"Right."

He looked up at the collection of DVDs above the TV. "Are these movies?"

"Yes they are. You wanna watch one?"

"I suppose I could. Do you have any of those movies you were telling me about?"

"Unfortunately not."

"Alright. What do you recommend then?"

"Whatever you want. You pick."

He skimmed through the collection until he finally pulled one out. "This looks interesting. What is it?"

He handed me the DVD. The cover had a pale man covered in scars with a girl wrapped around him. "It's Edward Scissorhands." Interesting that out of all the movies here, he picked this one, I thought.

"I can read the title. But what is it about?"

"It's about this guy, with scissors for hands, of course, who spends his life in a dark, isolated castle, and one day this woman shows up and brings him home with her and he has to adjust to normal life as well as falls in love with the woman's daughter."

"Sounds interesting."

"So we're watching this then?"

"I suppose so."

"Alrighty then. Hold on." I ran upstairs to grab my glasses and ran back downstairs to Erik still waiting for me in the study. "Let's go." He followed me back to the family room while I set up the DVD. "Do you want any popcorn while we watch?"

"What's popcorn?"

"It's a snack that people eat when watching movies."

"Oh, then no thank you."

"Alright, well I'm going to make some for me then." While the menu played I went to go pop some popcorn in the kitchen. "I'll check back in a few minutes," I said sitting on the couch beside Erik and pressed play.

After about five minutes I went back into the kitchen to get some popcorn along with a couple other things and returned to the family room to find Erik watching intensely. "What are those?" he asked referring to the other things in my hand besides the bowl of popcorn.

"Butter spray and garlic powder."

"Butter spray?" he asked, seemingly turned off.

"Yeah. I put these on popcorn to give it more flavor," I said as I sprayed the popcorn and sprinkled a little powder on top. "Are you sure you don't want to try just a little bit?"

"The smell is intoxicating," he said, turning back towards the movie.

"Alright then. Suit yourself," I said popping a handful into my mouth.

After a few moments Erik turned back to me. "Although the smell is also strangely rather enticing.

"I knew you'd give in," I said smiling as I filled up a second bowel. "Do you want anything on it?"

"Yes," he said almost ashamed of himself.

"Alright. Just don't touch anything after you eat. The spray makes your fingers all oily." After handing him his bowel of popcorn, he just stared at it. "What's wrong? Afraid to take off your mask?"

"Yes."

After thinking for a moment, I came up with an idea. "How about this, how about we switch sides. This way the only way I could see your face would be if I turned around, which I promise I won't do."

"Do you promise?"

"I promise."

With that I stood up and sat in his spot as he moved towards where I was sitting. In the corner of my eye I saw him place the mask on the table, resisting every urge to take a peak. But I made a promise and Erik trusted me, so tempted as I was I didn't look.

Once we were out of popcorn I paused the movie and sent Erik into the kitchen to wash his hands. "Julia, the lever isn't working!"

I sighed as I stood up. "Alright, cover your face, I'm coming in." When I came into the kitchen, he was hiding his face with his arms like a child counting to ten in a game of hide and seek. "Erik, look." He stood behind me as I demonstrated. "On, off, on, off," and headed back to the family room after washing my hands. After he did the same thing, I saw his hand reach for his mask. Once I knew it was back on his face, I turned around and smiled before continuing the movie.

"So what did you think?" I asked once the movie was over.

"I very much enjoyed it."

"Good. And the popcorn?"

"It was delicious."

"Good. I'm glad."

I was about to turn off the TV when Erik stood up and looked at the other covers on the shelf under the TV. "Are these more movies?"

"Most of them. Some of them are video games."

"Video games?"

"I'll show you." I motioned for him to sit while I set up the Wii. I sat down next to him once everything was set. "How about a little Super Smash Brawl action?" When it was time to choose a character, I chose Peach. "I always choose her." When it was time to choose a stage, I chose Luigi's Mansion. "I always pick this stage." The game had paired me with Sonic. "You're going down you little blue freak!" I shouted at the screen.

After I won I turned towards Erik waiting for him to say something. "I'm afraid I still don't understand."

I sighed. "I'll show you again." I picked Peach and Luigi's Mansion again, and this time they had me paired with Link. After I finished I turned towards him again. "Do you get it now? The premise of this game really isn't that hard."

"So let me get this straight: you basically try to kill someone over and over again for five minutes?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

"How is that fun?"

"This coming from a man who's a skilled assassin?"

"Yes, but killing people in real life is more fun. Besides, when you kill someone in real life they don't keep coming back." I stood up to turn the Wii off as Erik got up to look at the other covers. "I thought you said that you didn't own any of the movies about me that we spoke about."

"I don't."

"Then what's this?" he asked holding up a DVD.

I stared in horror at the DVD he was holding. On the cover was a man with a white half-face mask, who frankly was too good-looking to be Erik, holding in his arms a woman with long brown curls. Not that I found the movie itself as horrifying as most people, but I was afraid of Erik's reaction. "Um… I kinda forgot to tell you about that one," I said nervously.

"Alright. Then let's watch it."

"Wait! Before we watch it, there's something you must do. Come with me." Erik followed me out of the family room. "Wait here," I said at the foot of the staircase as I ran upstairs.

"Can't I come up with you?"

"Let me make this clear," I said over the banister. "You are not allowed upstairs, especially in my room, got it?" Before I could get an answer, I ran to my room, grabbed the CD I needed, and ran back downstairs.

He followed me back to the study as I set up the first CD in the set of two on the computer. As I did this, he looked at the cover, plain black with a full-face white mask in the bottom corner and a rose next to the title: The Phantom of the Opera. "What is this? Why is my mask white?"

"Let me explain?"

"And why do I have only half a mask on the movie box? And why is Christine brunette?"

"Are you going to let me explain or not?"

"I'm sorry. Please continue."

"Thank you. As I was saying, this is without a doubt the most famous version of your story. This is a different musical than the one I was telling you about. This is from the 1980s, the music is by a man named Andrew Lloyd Webber, Christine is portrayed by his then wife Sarah Brightman, and you are played by a man named Michael Crawford. They made a movie of this musical in 2004, and I think you really need to hear the music before watching the movie."

"Why? Won't I just hear the same music in the movie?"

"Trust me, you'll thank me. I'll be back down here in an hour to change disks." With that I went upstairs and closed the doors to my room and watched TV for the next hour.


	12. Andrew Lloyd Webber

Once the hour had passed, I went downstairs to change disks when I saw something that took me completely by surprise. Erik was laying on the bed in fetal position facing the wall, his mask beside him. As I approached him, I could hear him sobbing. "Hey Erik," I said in that somewhat high-pitched voice people use when trying to console someone. I picked his mask and handed it to him. "What's wrong?"

He reached his arm out and snatched his mask right out of my hand. He put it on before he sat up, clenching his fists. "Oh how I wish I could relive that night on Apollo's Lyre," he said. "There are so many things I regret not doing. I should've killed that spoiled little rich boy right then and there. Oh the joys of feeling him squeal in my grasp. And once he'd stop breathing, I would throw his dead body off the roof! And Christine, my dear Christine, I could just see the look on her face now, looking dazed and frightened. I would take her back to my home under the opera house, where she would never see the light of day again! To hell with her happiness, she would be all mine forever!"

I stood there in stunned silence. I had almost forgotten whom I was dealing with here. "Yes, well," I said awkwardly. "You know what they say, there's no use crying over spilled milk. The past is the past, there's nothing you can do about it. Besides, they're both dead."

"Yes, but they lived happily ever after together. He won."

"But you could've won if you kept Christine and let him die in your torture chamber."

"Don't remind me! I had them right where I wanted them. But I let her go because I loved her and for one moment, I put her happiness before mine."

"Whatever you say." I switched the disks and went back upstairs.

I returned forty-five minutes later to catch the final notes of Music of the Night when I found Erik in the same spot as before. "Oh Christine!" he cried, "I still love you! Please come back to me! It was foolish of me to ever let you go! But I did it because I love you!" One less thing for me to worry about, I thought. He still loves Christine and not me, which is good. As I clicked eject on the computer, Erik quickly put his mask on and sat up, turning towards me. "Julia! I didn't hear you come in!"

"Yeah, I'm kinda ninja like that," I said sarcastically. "So what did you think?" I asked putting the disk back in the box.

"That was absolutely beautiful. At first I was rather confused by Michael Crawford's voice; as soon as he began to sing, I was somewhat insulted since I sound nothing like that, but it somehow began to grow on me. As for Sarah Brightman, a beautiful voice indeed. Nothing of course like the real Christine, but she did her justice. Certain events were out of order which threw me off a bit, but otherwise it wasn't too bad."

"Good, I'm glad you liked it."

"Now can we watch the movie?"

"Alright. But first there's one more thing we must do." We returned to the family room and once again I set up the DVD player. "Before we watch the movie, I think it's important that you see this." I showed him the documentary that came with the movie talking about the evolution of the musical.

"Why do I only have half a mask? And why is it white?"

"They'll explain later on."

During the documentary bits of the show were shown. "This man doesn't sound like Michael Crawford."

"It's not. It's John Owen Jones."

When they finally did show clips of Sarah Brightman and Michael Crawford, he marveled, "Oh, so that's what they look like. She looks nothing like Christine! Similar hair, but even then she was blond! And he's ashamed of having half a face, what I wouldn't give to have at least half a face! How do they find so many guys with only half a face?"

"They don't. They use makeup."

"Oh," he said sounding kind of disappointed.

After the documentary was over, he asked if we could finally watch the movie. "Yes!" I answered. "Brace yourself," I said before as I pressed the play button.

As soon as Raoul appeared onscreen, Erik laughed. "And I didn't think it was possible to make the vicomte any more foppish. At least this Christine is prettier than Miss Brightman."

"Just wait till you hear her sing."

As soon as the notes of Think of Me began to play, Emmy Rossum opened her mouth to sing. "She's good, but not enough to portray my dear Christine."

"Guess what, this movie goes on for another two hours! But hey, you really wanted to watch it."

"Yes I did," he said under his breath, about to regret the next two hours.

Whenever Emmy Rossum would reach a high note, Erik grimaced. "If you think Christine is bad, wait till you hear who plays you."

Ten minutes later, Gerard Butler's voice burst from the speakers. "Oh come on!" Erik shouted. "He was barely singing that so much as practically shouting it! Whose brilliant idea was it to cast these talentless people?"

"The man who destroyed the Batman series." I knew he wouldn't get it, besides I knew his question was rhetorical. He was too busy being tortured by what was going on onscreen to notice.

As soon as the good side of Gerry's face appeared onscreen, Erik lost it. "Look at that man! With a face like that, he could have any woman he wants! Hell he's even more handsome than the fop! The other side better look worse than mine!"

When it was time for the rooftop scene, I picked up the remote. "Do you want me to skip over this scene?" I asked, hoping to avoid another cryfest from Erik.

"Yes please." I skipped over All I Ask of You and the reprise.

Later on when the graveyard appeared onscreen, I picked up the remote again. "I'm skipping this. You're not missing anything, she's just walking around. Besides, it's three less minutes of hearing her sing."

Soon it was time for the big reveal. "Christine, that's all I ask of…" Emmy ripped off Gerry's mask and his face was exposed. Everyone screamed and gasped in fear. "WHAT?" Erik shouted standing up. "That's nothing! How dare they! I don't even want to watch anymore!" He stormed out of the room. I turned off the movie and followed him back to the study. "God, could they screw up my image any more?" he shouted, throwing his arms in the air sitting on the bed, burying his head in his hands.

"Yes actually."

He lifted his head. "You're not serious."

"There's a sequel."

"A sequel!" I nodded. "What happens in this sequel?"

"You run away to New York with the Girys and you start your own carnival on Coney Island. Ten years later you invite Christine to come sing at your carnival. She's married to Raoul, of course, and she has a son. But guess what? The son isn't really Raoul's, he's yours! It turns out that on the night before Christine's wedding, she returned to you and you guys did it, and the next morning, you left her alone to go run off to New York and got her pregnant. Christine has to choose between you and Raoul again, and this time she chooses you. But before you guys live happily ever after, Meg kills her out of jealousy because for the past ten years she's been trying to get your attention. The kid decides he wants to be with you, and you live happily ever after as a father. Oh, and did I mention that Raoul is now an abusive, stinking drunk and a gambler, because he is."

"Just as I thought they couldn't mess me up any more. Do you own this sequel?"

"I have a few songs on my computer, but that's it."

"Show me." I ran upstairs, grabbed my phone, and ran back to him, playing him Beneath a Moonless Sky. "This doesn't sound like Sarah Brightman. Or that other girl, thank God. She actually sounds better than both of them."

"This is Sierra Boggess. She played Christine in this."

"And this isn't Michael Crawford or that pretty boy."

"This is Ramin Karimloo."

"He also has a very nice voice, though very different than what I'm used to." He grabbed the phone and looked at the image of the CD cover. "'Love Never Dies.' Really? What kind of title is Love Never Dies?"

"A cheesy and cliché title."

"At least the music here is very nice," he admitted.

"Yeah, but listen to the lyrics."

He did. "They aren't too bad. Are they supposed to be?"

"Yes. They're singing about having sex."

"Oh dear lord!" he exclaimed in shock, handing the phone back to me. "As much as I love Christine, I would never deflower her in such a way!"

"Exactly!"

"Turn it off please! I need to get such images out of my head! Who is responsible for this?"

"Andrew Lloyd Webber?"

"Where does that bastard live? I'm going to go kill him for ruining me in such an atrocious way!"

"He lives in England."

His rage died down. "Oh."

"Yeah." There was an awkward silence. "Well I'm going upstairs. Have fun getting all these horrible images and voices out of your head." I was about to leave when I turned around. "Oh Erik, one more thing."

"Yes?"

"And I touched you, and I felt you…" I sang mockingly before leaving him alone.


	13. Panic Attacks

_Author's Note: I know it's been two months since I posted a chapter, but I seriously had not had any time to write since winter break ended. Now that spring break is almost here, I will be updating the story as much as possible. Also I would like to take this time to thank you all for your lovely reviews, as well as those of you who have added this to your favorites and story alert subscriptions. You guys are awesome! Again I apologize for the long wait and I hope you enjoy! :D_

As soon as I had returned to my room, I put Percy on the bed and resumed watching TV. It wasn't until a few minutes after Percy had just situated himself on my bed that he got up and started barking when he heard the door handle jiggle. I sat up and paused the TV, my heart pounding. I hadn't heard the front door or the garage, but what if it was because the TV was too loud? Finally the door opened and it was Erik. "Erik, what the hell? I told you that you aren't aloud up here!"

"I know."

"So then why are you up here?"

"I heard voices."

I sighed with frustration. "It's just the TV. There's no one else here besides us. Who else could it be?"

"I don't know. That's why I wanted to look." He took a few steps into my room and looked at the TV. The image had two men, one tall and thin while the other short with glasses, and a blond woman. "What are you watching?"

"It's called Big Bang Theory."

He then looked around my room with what I imagine was disgust. "I've never seen so much pink in my life," he said referring to the walls and ceiling. And why do you have so many dolls and stuffed animals?"

"I like dolls and stuffed animals." But there was one set of dolls that caught his attention the most. He approached them, still in their black box, and caressed the plastic. "It's supposed to be you and Christine."

"They look more like M. Crawford and Mlle. Brightman than me and Christine."

"Yes, but they're supposed to be you two from the musical."

Erik turned around and left my room. "Where do the rest of these doors lead?" he asked, referring to the rest of the upstairs.

"Bathroom, closet, sister's room, parents' room." I replied pointing to each door. All of a sudden a high-pitched squeak filled the upstairs. Erik walked across the hall to my parents' room while Percy and I followed. "Where do you think you're going?"

"I hear another noise coming from in here."

We reached the bathroom in my parents' room to find that the noise was none other than a small green bird in a black cage. "It's just the bird."

Erik took one small step towards the cage and the bird started flying around the cage in fear. "Why is it afraid of me?"

"Don't take it personally, he's afraid of everyone."

All of a sudden a loud ring filled the house, causing Erik to go into panic. "Did you hear that?" he exclaimed in fear.

"Relax, it's just the phone," I replied walking into the other room to see who it was. "I'll take care of it." When I went to check the caller I.D. I saw that it was my mom. "Oh crap," I said under my breath. I turned around to face Erik, who was now standing beside me. "Not. A. Word." I then pressed talk. "Hello?"

"I'm on my way home."

I began cursing in my head. What was I going to do about Erik? I couldn't just kick him out. But what was I going to do about my mom? She would kill me if she knew about Erik! "Okay."

"So what did you do today?"

"Nothing."

"Okay, well I'll see you in about 20 minutes."

"Okay. Hey Mom, can I invite a friend over?"

"Sure! Who do you want to invite?"

"Well you don't really know him."

"Oh it's a boy? But what about…?"

"He's just a friend!"

"Can I trust you and this 'friend?'"

"Yes you can. He really needs a place to stay."

"Alright, just as long as I know I can trust you."

"You can!"

"Alright, alright. I'll see you in about 20 minutes."

"Okay, bye." As soon as I pressed the "end" button, I released a sigh of relief, and yet I still felt like I was having a heart attack.

"Who were you talking to? And who is this friend of yours?"

"I was talking to my mom, and I was referring to you."

"But I'm already here," he said rather confused.

"I know. It's called a lie."

He took the phone from me and examined it. "Incredible," he mused. "How does this thing work?"

"You press certain numbers in order to talk to someone."

"May I try?" he asked about to press random numbers.

"No you may not." I grabbed the phone out of his hands and placed it back in its stand. He then followed me as I grabbed my ipod from my room and walked downstairs. "Look, I have to take Percy for his afternoon walk. It's up to you whether you want to come with me or not."

"As much as I appreciate the offer, I'm afraid I'm going to have to decline. I wish to avoid stepping out in the broad daylight as much as possible."

"Alright then, suit yourself," I said as I hooked Percy's leash. Before I left I turned around. "Can I trust you not to do or touch anything?"

"You have my word," he replied with a bow.

I closed the front door and pressed play on my ipod, feeling my heartbeat grow stronger. But that didn't compare to the panic attack I had when I returned from my walk. Sitting there in the driveway was my sister's car.


	14. Interrogations

I opened the door as quietly as I could, unhooking Percy's leash. Percy ran into the family room to look for my sister. "Hi Percy!" I heard my sister say over the TV. I went into the study to see if Erik was in there, and he wasn't. Great, I thought, this day just keeps getting better. After washing my hands in the adjoining bathroom I ran upstairs to see if Erik was maybe hiding up there. "Hi Julia!" I heard my sister call. I looked over the banister and said hi back. "How are you?" I replied that I was good and resumed my search. I checked my room, my parents' room and both bathrooms to find nothing. Maybe he left, I thought. I kind of hoped he did, it would definitely make my life a lot easier.

All of a sudden I remembered one more place I hadn't looked. I ran downstairs and went into the garage. As I looked around there was a rustling sound coming from the giant pile of junk. "Erik?" I asked, turning to the junk pile.

Erik then popped out of his hiding spot. "Oh Julia, thank goodness it's you."

"Shh, not so loud," I whispered, motioning to keep his voice down. "What are you doing in here?"

"When I heard the automobile pull up I ran in here and hid."

I released a sigh both of frustration and relief. "Thankfully she didn't come in here. Although I will admit that this was a smart place to hide." Suddenly we heard another car pull up into the driveway. "Crap it's my mom!" I exclaimed in a whisper. "Come with me."

I grabbed his hand and led him into the house, pushed him into the study and closed the door as the garage door opened. Once we were inside Erik started to panic again. "Do you not feel this earthquake?"

"Relax, it's just the garage door opening. Now stay in here and don't make a sound." I left him alone in the room while I went to go greet my mom. "Hi Mom," I said.

"Hi," she responded. "So where's this friend of yours?"

"Well… there's something I should tell you first…" I said as she headed into the study.

When she opened the door, she gasped. Erik turned around to see me and my mom standing there. "This must be your mother," he said approaching us, taking a bow. "It is a pleasure to meet you madam."

"It's nice to meet you too," she said unconvincingly. "Would you excuse us for a minute?"

"Of course."

My mom closed the door and led me into the main entrance. "What exactly is going on?" she whispered. "Who is that man?"

"That's the friend I was telling you about," I answered nervously.

"How exactly did you meet him?"

"I met him in Paris, at the opera."

"Where at the Paris Opera?"

"In his lair underneath."

"I knew I couldn't send you to Paris alone. I thought I could trust you."

"I swear to God nothing happened, he's just a friend. I've spent most of the trip hanging out with him."

"And what exactly did you guys do while you were 'hanging out?'"

"You know, talking, singing, just hanging out. But like I said he's just a friend."

"And what exactly is he doing here?"

"He flew out here to look for me."

"Okay, and why was he looking for you?"

"He was lonely."

"And what exactly were you guys doing here?"

"You know, watching movies, talking, just hanging out."

"I don't like you spending time with that weird man and I want him out of the house. It's not normal for a man that old to spend time with a girl half his age."

"I'm nineteen, I can be friends with whoever I want. Besides we can't just kick him out, he has nowhere to go. Please Mom," I begged.

"Fine, he can stay." I could tell that my mom wasn't happy about it, but I could tell that her morality was the only thing stopping her from saying no.

"What's going on?" my sister asked joining the conversation.

"We have a guest staying with us," my mom said going upstairs.

"What is she talking about? Who's staying with us?"

"Just a friend of mine."

"What friend?"

"A friend I met in Paris."

"What is he doing here?"

"Visiting."

"Okay… where is this 'friend?'" I led my sister to the study and opened the door again. "Julia… who is this?" she asked kind of nervously.

"Heather this is Erik. Erik, this is my sister Heather."

Erik took her hand and bowed again. "A pleasure to meet you mademoiselle."

"It's nice to meet you too," she replied nervously. She led me away from Erik back to the main entrance. "Why is the Phantom of the Opera in our house?"

"Because he needs a place to stay."

"Okay… why isn't he staying in the Paris Opera House?"

"He was lonely, and he wanted to be with me."

"What do you mean be with you?"

"He's just a friend," I said rather annoyed of sounding like a broken record.

"How exactly did you too meet?"

"When I went to the Paris Opera I snuck down to the underground lake and we met down there and became friends."

"U-huh, and how is it that he's still alive?"

"Neither one of us knows."

"Huh… well I'm going to go eat dinner. You wanna join me?"

"Sure, but hold on. I'll meet you in the kitchen in a minute."

Once Heather left I went into the study to check up on Erik. "So what's happening? Can I stay?" he asked nervously.

"You can stay. Although I must say, I'm proud of you. I've never seen you act so polite around other people like this before."

"Well I wanted to make a good impression so I could stay. I can be civil you know. And besides, I know how important your family is to you."

"Well thank you, how kind of you. Heather and I are about to go eat dinner, you're free to join us if you want, even though I know you well enough that I know you're going to say no."

"I appreciate the invitation, but as you have correctly guessed, I'm afraid I'm going to have to decline."

"Alright then, suit yourself. Feel free to make yourself at home." As I closed the door and headed for the kitchen, I could still feel my heart beat out of my chest out of fear despite gaining my family's reluctant acceptance of letting Erik stay.


	15. Play for me

After that day nothing too eventful happened, or at least in comparison. Honestly things weren't that different with Erik around. Since my mom was at work most of the time, she didn't really have to put up with him that often, and whenever she was home she mostly ignored him. Then again, Erik ignored all of us most of the time. He would often wander around the house, staring at each picture or doll as if he were scrutinizing every detail. Sometimes he would join me on the couch in the family room while watching TV or playing the Wii. Other times when he was with my sister since they both speak fluent French they would have conversations entirely in French, although I never bothered to ask what they spoke about. But most of the time he would read, play the piano or listen to music. I gave him a bunch of classical CD's and taught him how to play them through the computer.

Before I knew it, there was only one more week of winter break left. Since my sister's winter break ended a week before mine, she went back to school. Between her being gone and my mom at work, it was just Erik and I alone in the house. During that week, I began to notice some significant changes with him; after mostly keeping to himself for over a week, all of a sudden he wanted to spend practically every minute with me. For example, he knew that I never played piano or sang when other people were in the house, so whenever I did play or sing (I didn't mind doing it with Erik around) I always caught him watching me. Once he was caught, he would beg for us to play and/or sing together. Granted this wasn't a new thing, we would do this on occasion when we were home alone the days before, but it seemed to happen more frequently now.

As this was going on a thought came to me. I was going back to school in less than a week, what was I going to do with Erik? I decided to have a talk with him to hopefully work something out. I walked into the living room to find him pounding away an original piece at the piano, stopping at every other phrase or so to write down his progress. "Hey Erik, I need to talk to you," I said sitting beside him.

"Of course," he said putting his pen down before facing me. "What do you need to talk to me about?"

"I have to go back to school in less than a week."

"Yes, and…?"

"Which means that I won't be living at home."

"Yes…"

"Which means that we have to figure out what to do with you."

"I am not leaving you Julia. I will not return to Paris unless you come with me."

"But Erik…"

"Why can't I just continue living with you at school?"

"Because at school I live in a tiny room with nothing but two beds."

"Perfect! I'll sleep in the other bed."

"No… my roommate sleeps in the other bed."

"Oh."

"Although I do have an idea. At school there's a huge theater that's very easy to get lost in. I'm pretty sure there's a dark corner somewhere for you to live in there. What do you say?"

"Sounds perfect."

"Great!"

I stood up to leave when he grabbed my wrist. "Where do you think you're going?"

"Um… I don't know."

Erik stood up and sat me down at the piano, pressing both his hands on my shoulders. "You're not going anywhere," he whispered into my ear. "Play for me." I should mention that not only were our music-making times more frequent, but he also became a lot more forceful in his approach to them.

"You know Erik, this is my house, you're just a guest. I don't _have_ to do anything. I could easily kick you out."

He snickered. "No you can't."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Let's say you did succeed in bringing yourself to get rid of me, you're guilt would haunt you forever. Besides I know how sad you were to leave me in Paris and even though you tried to hide it I know that you were happy to see me again." Crap, he was right, I thought. "Be honest, you really did miss me as much as I missed you, didn't you?"

"I did," I admitted.

"Good. Now play for me."

"Alright fine, I'll play for you. But why is it that you've wanted me to sing or play for you more often now?"

"Because I like the sound of your music. It's so hard to find someone who matches my level of musical standards."

"Okay, but why now do you choose to act this way?"

"Did you really think that you and I could allow our musical geniuses to go into full effect with others around?"

"Good point. Alright what do you want me to play for you?"

"Anything you want. How about some more of that Andrew Lloyd Webber you like so much? I never tire of his Phantom of the Opera."

I began to play Music of the Night and he sang along, having learned all the words to the whole musical, or at least all of the Phantom's lines. I haven't talked about the sound of his voice yet, have I? It's the most intoxicating sound you could ever imagine, the most perfect voice that has ever graced my ears. It's so light and smooth, and just about every note is absolutely eargasmic. Take the feeling you get by listening to your favorite Phantom, whether it be Crawford or Karimloo or whoever, and multiply it by ten and you have the real Phantom's voice. At one point I was so caught up in his singing that I accidentally slipped up a few notes. But as a perfectionist, he would not allow for any slipups. He stormed up to me and grabbed my wrist. "No! I will not allow mistakes!"

"I'm sorry."

"Good. We are done for now." With that he walked away. I guess I had forgotten what he was really like. Before our alone time became more frequent he would often put on a façade of civility around my family in order to impress them, not to mention that he would usually keep to himself to avoid contact. But now things were just like the way they were back in Paris, with all the singing and music and oppression of feelings and whatnot. I glanced over to the sheet music in front of me, noticing that Erik must've forgotten to take it with him. I flipped through the music and gasped when I saw what was written on top of the first page: "Julia's Sonata."


	16. Erik's New Home

_Author's Note: Hey guys, I apologize for waiting another two months, but now that I'm free for the summer I'll have more time to finish the story. Again thank you to everyone who's reviewed, favorited, and alerted this story, you guys are awesome! :D_

Before we knew it the week was over and it was time to go back to school. My sister had come down to help drive me back while Erik hid in the back seat, covered by all my luggage. As soon as we arrived, I made sure the coast was clear and that not many people were around. When it was safe Erik and I quickly ran out of the car and into my dorm. "Please be empty, please be empty," I whispered frantically as I unlocked my door. Thankfully it was. "Okay, I'll be coming in and out carrying my stuff from the car. Just stay in here for now. As soon as it gets dark I'll take you to the theater."

After I finished bringing everything back to my room, I decided to unpack while Erik kept me company as we waited for nightfall. Thankfully my roommate didn't come back during this time. Once it was dark enough Erik and I ran as fast as we could past the dorm area away from all the people until we were in the dark emptiness of the main campus. As soon as we arrived at the performing arts building, we walked around in circles, looking at just about every hidden corner until we could find a suitable home for him. Finally we found a hidden door that leads to a hidden basement. "Hopefully this is suitable enough for you."

"It is."

"Well then I guess I better go."

"Julia, please allow me to walk back with you, just so you don't have to walk alone in the dark."

"Are you sure you'll remember how to get back here,"

"I will."

And with that Erik walked me through campus until we reached the dorm area. I didn't want to risk Erik being seen considering that the dorms were all lit up. "Thank you, but I think I can take it from here."

"You're welcome." I was about to walk away when he called my name. "When will I see you next?"

"I promise to visit as much as possible."

"Very well." I smiled before turning away to leave. "Julia wait."

"Yes Erik?"

Erik took my hand. "I just wanted to thank you again, for everything you've done. For all the kindness and hospitality you've shown me."

I didn't really know how to respond. "You're welcome."

He seemed to forget that he was holding my hand because the moment he looked down and saw he let go, as if holding hands was forbidden. He finally left which allowed me to leave as well.

I was just about to enter my building when I heard someone call my name. I turned around and a tall young man with shoulder-length light brown hair came running up to me. As soon as I saw him I ran up to him as well and we met in a tight embrace. "I missed you," he said, and I told him that I missed him too. We walked with our arms around each other towards the building as I looked behind my shoulder. I knew he wasn't there so I had nothing to worry about, but still I didn't want to risk Erik seeing me with my boyfriend.


	17. The Voice Lesson

Ever since that night I was a little on edge. Whenever I would visit Erik I would always feel my heart jump out of my chest in anxiety, hoping that he didn't know my secret. Thankfully whenever I would visit him he didn't act any differently than before.

"Julia," he said one day, "you take voice lessons, yes?"

"Yes."

"How much do you pay for your lessons?"

"Thirty five dollars. Why?"

"How would you like it if I offered you lessons for free?"

"I'd love it, but why are you offering me free lessons?"

"You know I enjoy your singing, right?"

"Yes."

"But I feel like it still needs work in order for it to be at its full potential. Under my instruction, I could turn you into the singer that you're meant to be. So what do you say?"

My heart practically stopped beating from all the fangirlness running through me at that moment. THE Phantom of the Opera was offering to give me voice lessons! "Yes," I replied, remaining as calm as possible. "I'd love that."

Even though I was now taking lessons with Erik I didn't cancel my other voice lessons, just in case something were to happen. It was a good thing I didn't considering what was to happen a few weeks later.

I could honestly say that I did not see what happened coming. We were working on O mio babbino caro from Gianni Schicchi by Puccini. "If there's any aria that every soprano needs in their repertoire, it's this one," he said when we first started working on it. Now this aria is in no way sexual, or even romantic. It's about a girl begging her father to let her be with her boyfriend.

"Now I want you to close your eyes," Erik said, "and feel the music flow from within." I had pulled up an instrumental version on my phone, so I pressed the play button before closing my eyes.

It was while I was singing that the unthinkable happened. All of a sudden I felt Erik wrap his arm around my waist. I gasped when he then places his other hand on my neck and jaw. I had touched his hands before so I knew how cold and deathlike they were, but this was the first time he'd ever touch my face, so the shock I felt the first time I had touched his hands returned. "Keep singing," he whispered into my ear, "Don't stop."

Not wanting to defy him I continued to sing, trembling while doing so. As I did he pulled me in tighter towards him while his hand ran slowly down my neck and towards my chest. I gasped yet again and broke myself away from his hold. When I turned to face him, he held his hands in the air, slowly backing away. "Erik, what the hell?" I shouted as I paused the music. "What do you think you're doing? Why did you do that?"

"I'm… I'm sorry," he stammered quietly. "I don't know what came over me."

After a few moments of staring at each other, I grabbed my stuff. "I better get going," I said putting my phone away.

"No, Julia wait!" he exclaimed as he approached me. He was about to grab my wrist but he stopped himself when I flinched. "There's something I want to show you. Please," he gestured towards the couch. "Sit." I sat down.

Ever since the night I first brought him, he was somehow able to furnish the place as well as get a piano. I didn't question how, but it didn't really matter. Even though it's nothing like his house in Paris, his new home here seemed a bit more Phantom lair-y.

"There's something I want to play for you," he said as he sat at the piano. Once he started playing I recognized the song immediately. It was the piece he was writing at my house the month before, "Julia's Sonata." And as much as I hated to admit it, it was the most beautiful thing I've ever heard come out of a piano.

After he finished playing he turned around. "Do you like it?" I nodded my head, speechless. "It took me quite some time, but I wrote it especially for you," he said joining me at the couch. As he reached for my hands I could feel my breath shorten.

"Erik, what's going on?" I asked in barely above a whisper.

He took a deep sigh. "There's no easy way of saying this," he said. Gently he forced my head up by placing his hand beneath my chin so that I had no choice but to look into his eyes. "Julia, I love you."

I think I died for a few seconds from the shock of what Erik had just said. "What did you say?" I asked quietly, breaking away from his touch.

"I said that I love you."

"No," I whispered.

"Ever since you left me in Paris I couldn't stop thinking about you. It was the first time in my life that I had stopped thinking about Christine."

"No," I whispered again.

"That's why I flew across the ocean to find you, I needed to be with you again. But it wasn't until we started living together that I realized my true feelings for you."

"No!" I shouted standing up. "This can't happen! You're supposed to love Christine, not me!"

"But don't you see? You're the one who made me really think about Christine and why I loved her. Yes she was beautiful, and yes she sang beautifully, but otherwise there was not much there. I never got the chance to know her, to spend time with her, like with you. And yes, you are beautiful and sing beautifully, but you're also intelligent and have a personality. And more importantly, you spoke to me; you treated me like a real person and not a monster. You've shown me more kindness than anyone else has ever shown me. You've given me hope that someone like you could truly care for someone like me."

Now I'm sure if it were any other phangirl in my position they would melt like putty in his hands during all of this and agree to be his in less than a second. Hell that's how I would react if I were still single. But given the situation this turned out not to be the case at the moment, and despite what the thirteen-year-old in me was screaming I was not willing to break up with my boyfriend just to be with Erik. But at the same time the last thing I wanted to do was hurt him.

I could feel tears welling in my eyes. "I have to go," I said before I couldn't fight my tears anymore. I turned around and grabbed my stuff before heading out.

"But Julia…!"

"I said I have to go!" I ran out into the broad daylight where Erik would never dare to tread. Once I was safe I walked back to my dorm as fast as possible, not wanting anyone to see the tears that slowly ran down my cheeks.


	18. All Is Revealed

For the next few days I avoided the performing arts building as much as possible, that is until Sunday approached. I had to go to a concert there on Sunday for my Music 100 class, so it wasn't like I had much of a choice. I spent all day before the concert dreading being in there alone, so I decided that I would go in, sit through the concert, and leave as soon as possible. Unfortunately things did not go as I had planned.

I arrived twenty minutes before the concert started. Just as I was about to sit down I really needed to go to the bathroom. I figured nothing bad could happen by doing this so I decided to go. As I came out and started to head towards the main lobby, I felt a hand cover my mouth and an arm grab my waist. Before I could let out a scream everything blacked out.

I later awoke in someone's bed. Once my vision completely cleared up I could see that I was in Erik's lair. Damn it, I thought as my heart leaped out of my chest.

"How dare you!" a loud voice boomed. Erik emerged from the shadows with what I imagine was an angry expression on his face. "You didn't think that I would eventually know?"

I started cursing in my head. And yet for the first time since the day that I first met him I was genuinely afraid of him. "Know what?" I asked meekly.

"Don't play dumb with me! You didn't think that I would find out about you and your lover?"

I knew that he would have found out eventually. But what I was curious about was how he knew. "How did you find out?"

"On the night I confessed my love to you I snuck over to where you live and hid. That's when I saw you coming out of the food building with him. I saw the way you two were smiling and laughing, walking with your arms around each other and kissing. In fact I've watched you two together every night since."

"I'm so sorry," I said in barely above a whisper. "I didn't say anything because I didn't want to hurt you. I thought it would've been better if you didn't know."

"You made me believe that you cared for me!"

"Erik I do care for you, but just as a friend."

"You made me believe that you loved me! You gave me hope in ways that Christine never could! I understand why Christine never told me about her other lover, it was because she was never really mine in the first place, she was merely an infatuation, an obsession. But with you, you showed me friendship and compassion. You gave me a reason to believe that I could have had you for myself and lived a normal life with someone who treated me like a real human being. And it's because of this that the pain of you being with someone else hurts me more than it ever did with her."

"So what are you going to do with me then?"

"You're going to arrange for us to get on the first flight back to Paris as soon as possible so we can return to my home under the opera where we will live together forever."

"And if I refuse?"

"I'm not giving you a choice."

"So what? If I don't do this you'll kill me?"

Erik walked away and returned with his lasso. "I would rather see you dead than in the arms of another man."

Panicking for my life, I suddenly came up with an idea. Whether it was incredibly brilliant or incredibly stupid, I had yet to find out. "Before I make the call, could you possibly do me a favor?"

"It depends."

"Could you please play the piece you wrote for me?"

"As you wish my dear." He made his way over to the piano while I sat down on the sofa. Once he was deeply involved in what he was playing, I snuck up behind him as quietly as possible before I ripped the mask off his face. He thumped his hands against the keys and turned around, knocking me to the floor. I looked up and couldn't help but cower at what I saw. For the first time I had a clear view of his face. It looked exactly like how it was described in the book.

"How dare you! You promised that you wouldn't seek to know the horrors of what lies beneath my mask!" I couldn't help but look away. "Ah, you can't bare to look, can you? Since you are so fascinated with the face that loves you then look!" He grabbed my face forcing me to look at him. "Stare at it! Let it sink into your thoughts and your soul!"

The more I stared at him, the easier it was for me to look at him willingly. For how horrible it was, given with how much more people can tolerate today compared to back in Erik's time, I could bring myself to continue on with my plan. This time it was Erik's turn to fight back tears. "Why Julia?" he choked, "Why would you do this to me?"

"To show you that I'm not afraid of you. And so I could do this." I put my hands on his shoulders, pulled him closer towards me, and pressed my lips against his. I could feel him trembling in my arms the tighter I held on to him. He no longer bothered to fight back tears, for I could feel them press against mine as they streamed down his cheeks. Once we separated I leaned into his ear. "I love you," I whispered, for the first time admitting it to myself let alone to him.

"But Julia, what about your…"

"Right now he doesn't matter. The only one who matters is you. And I'm willing to stay with you wherever you choose to live."

He staggered away from me, sitting on the couch while he continued to sob. "In all my life, no one has ever kissed my lips before tonight. And no person has ever given me true love either."

For the rest of the night we continued to confess our love for each other. The nice thing about it was that for the first time I was able to actually see Erik's face, to see real expression and real mouth movement. And the more we spoke to each other, the less distracted I was about his face.

Eventually we both became tired so we decided to call it a night. "You best be getting back to your room," Erik said.

"What do you mean? I thought…"

"You're free from my hold over you, now that I know that you're mine without force."

"Well that's one option, or…" I walked towards his bed, taking my top off as I climbed in.

"You mean you're willing to stay with me?" I nodded. "Very well," he smiled, "I shall sleep on the sofa then."

"Erik, wait."

He turned around as I patted the empty spot on the bed beside me. "I don't understand." I got out of bed and took his hand, leading him towards the bed before getting back in it. He took his jacket off and joined me in bed. Once he was situated, I wrapped my arms around him, resting my head against his chest. As I made myself comfortable I could feel him release a deep sigh.

"Are you comfortable?"

"I've never been more comfortable or happy in all my life." We both sat up. "But Julia, why are you doing this?"

"Because I love you, and I trust you, and I want you to feel as comfortable as I do."

"Julia, again, thank you. Thank you for everything you've done for me. I owe everything I have to you, my heart, my soul, and yet no matter what I give you it will never be enough to show my gratitude. I'm all yours." I leaned over to kiss him again before we made ourselves comfortable and fell asleep in each other's arms.

When I awoke at what I assumed was the morning, I noticed something different about the bed than last night. Once I regained consciousness, I saw that Erik was gone. I turned over to get my phone out of my purse when I saw it already sitting out. I sat up as I turned it on to see that it was 6:30 in the morning. When I unlocked it, it was set to my ipod, with five minutes and seventeen seconds into Beneath a Moonless Sky. "What the…" I said groggily as I pressed play.

"And when it was done, before the sun could rise, ashamed of what I was, afraid to see your eyes, I stood while you slept and whispered a goodbye and slipped into the dark beneath a moonless sky."

"No," I whispered as I paused the song. Erik must have turned it on and fastforwarded through the song to get to that point, or sat through the whole song until then, either way he wanted me to hear that first thing in the morning. At least this explained his absence. But it was too late for me; I had passed the point of no return. I wanted him out of my life before getting to this point, but now that it's passed I couldn't help but feel empty inside, like he ripped a chunk out of my heart as he left, leaving a hole inside me. Then again it could've been worse, I thought, I could've lost my virginity to him.

I then noticed the envelope sitting underneath my phone with my name on it. I opened it up, tears strolling down my face as I read.

"My dearest Julia,

My beautiful, sweet, wonderful, loving Julia. I could never thank you enough for last night. Because of you it was the best night of my life. When you first told me about that God-awful atrocity known as a sequel, I was appalled that M. Lloyd Webber would have me take advantage of Christine only for me to leave her afterwards. But as we lay in bed together, I couldn't help but think as I watched you sleep. A creature as kind-hearted and beautiful as you shouldn't be wasting your life away by hiding from the world with someone like me. This is why I left, so you could be free to live your life the way you are meant to live it. As for your love, save it for your lover; he needs your love more than I do. As for me, I will find a way back to my home in Paris, and I hope to never see you again because you'll be too happy living your life to think of me. But just know that I will never forget you and that I will always love you until the day I die.

With all my love, Erik."

By the time I finished reading the letter I was bawling. It took me almost an hour to get out of bed out of sheer sadness and depression. I knew why he left and I understood, but I still couldn't believe that he was really gone from my life and that I was never going to see him again, after all that we've been through. At least he left out of love, not out of being a douche like most guys who leave.

Once I finally had enough strength to get up, I left the lair, heading back to my dorm room. I didn't even bother going to any of my classes that day I was so depressed. I ended up spending all day laying in bed, crying. I kept telling myself that maybe this was all just a dream, that I would wake up and it would still be the end of first semester so that all of this, Paris, Erik, all of it wouldn't be real. But nope, as much as I hated it, it was all real. This love, this depression, it was real. And no matter what I'm never going to see him, the love of my life, the Phantom of the Opera, ever again.


End file.
